Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person

The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.

In a statement issued late Wednesday afternoon, the PBC said it is “currently working to accommodate the in-person presentation of statements by victims at the November 26th hearing of Paul Bernardo, for those victims who wish to do so.”

“Victim statements, whether submitted in writing, via video or audio recording, or presented at a hearing in person or by videoconference, carry the same weight and are considered in the same way by Board members in their decision-making.”

The reversal comes after Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the loved ones of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, decried the parole board’s initial decision to bar his clients from attending the Nov. 26 hearing.

In an open letter, Danson wrote that the board cited it was “unable to ensure safety and security of all hearing attendees” – an explanation he called “unacceptable” and “insensitive” to the victims’ families.

Speaking to CP24 before the PBC’s statement was released, Danson said minutes before going on air, he received a phone call from a representative informing him that “they can amend their position.”

“Very, very confusing,” he said, adding that this new development shows that the PBC’s reason was a “false pretense.”

According to Danson, victims’ families have the statutory right to read their impact statements in person and the only exception is if the security and good order of the institution where the hearing is being held are likely to be adversely affected by their presence.

“So, this latest phone message that I literally just picked up is confusing, and I’m going to have to pursue it, and I’m not sure where it’s going to take us,” he said.

“But this is very, very strange that they would have an adamant position about safety and concern, and then when we call them out on it, and there’s a public outcry about it, all of a sudden, those safety security concerns may disappear, and they were never valid in the first place.”

In addition to getting the PBC’s decision reversed, Danson also wants the hearing to be delayed until next month at least so proper travel arrangements can be made for the families. He said they already cancelled their plans following the board’s initial decision.

Bernardo, who was moved out of an Ontario corrections facility to a medium-security prison about 200 kilometres northwest of Montreal in May, is currently serving a life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy.

The teenage girls were abducted and murdered in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.

The lawyer said the families were assured that when Bernardo was moved to Quebec they would still be able to attend his parole hearings in person.

Barring victims’ families from speaking in person at the hearing, Danson said, is adding to the emotional turmoil that they go through when he is up for parole.

“It’s like being back from day one, and then in this vulnerable emotional state, they’re now being told that they can’t even physically appear at the parole hearing, as they did at his original parole hearing,” the lawyer said.

Danson added that it does not make sense that there were no security concerns when the hearing was held at a maximum penitentiary, but now that it’s at a medium-security facility, there are problems.

“It’s no way to treat these victims,” he said. “They’ve suffered enough.”